A Blue-Green Summer
by thisismysecretidentity
Summary: When a new family – with two kids! – moves in during summer vacation, Lapis is overjoyed to finally have someone to hang out with 'til school starts. It's not simple, not when the older girl, Jasper, is rather a jerk, and the other is hard to approach – but Lapis is determined to befriend that cute Peridot, no matter how long it takes to do so. Befriend, and maybe more.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

I thought I had thought it out well enough to cover all the options. I thought I could improvise and act casual and have it work out just fine despite the fact that I hadn't actually planned anything, but it didn't turn out like that.

And now, watching my mysterious neighbor as she fled across the front porch of her ginormous house and pulled the door shut behind her, I wondered _what_ had gone wrong. It had seemed so simple! I mean yeah, talking to someone for the first time was awkward – but it shouldn't be so awkward that the girl runs away after the first minute!

Just five days before, I had been awoken by the sound of a truck backing up nearby. The sight outside my window was a welcome one: _finally_ , a family was moving into the long-empty house next door! I watched as the movers unloaded the furniture, crossing my fingers in the hopes that this would be a family with kids close to my age. Like, 16- or 17-year-olds would be nice. Although I wouldn't complain if they were just a little older or younger… My neighborhood was so boring, with almost all the kids having grown up and moved away. I guess that's just what happens when you live on the very edge of the richer part of the city where all the old rich people are – but really, I was tired of spending all my days alone. And summer vacation was the _worst_. Yeah, my parents TRIED to help me from being bored out of my mind, but they were busy almost all the time, and my friends all lived on the other side of the city, so most of the time I had nothing to do.

A little after lunchtime that same day, while I was splashing around in the pool in our front yard, I was overjoyed to see a medium-sized gray car pull up to the house next door and park in the driveway. A tall businesswoman stepped out of the driver's seat and two teens came out the back; one was tall and burly, tanned and longhaired, and I couldn't tell if it was a girl or boy, and the other was a really skinny pipsqueak with short, messy blonde hair, who looked female to me. None of them saw me as I treaded water thoughtfully and wondered if this was going to be as good as I hoped.

The family barely ever seemed to leave the house. I know, because I watched their house a lot of the time; every once in a while I would glance out the window and check what was going on. The prim businesswoman, who I assumed was the mother, seemed to be almost never at home, and her children pretty much did whatever.

On the second day after my new neighbors moved in, I had been hanging around on my front porch and reading some lame book that my mom had given me like three years ago when suddenly someone yelled something that made me look up. One of the teens from next door was standing in front of my house and calling out something that I couldn't understand. It was the big, strong-looking one, and since I was curious, I set the book aside and went up to my front gate.

"Hey," the kid had said, and up close I could tell that she was a girl. "I'm Jasper. Just moved in yesterday. You're from around here, right? There any cool places to hang, maybe find some kids?"

"I'm Lapis, and no, there aren't many cool places around here," I had replied. Jasper didn't seem too bad, but she didn't seem like anyone to mess with either; her tone was stern and slightly condescending. "There's a park, a pool, a donut shop, and the beach, although that's a little farther away. This is a pretty boring part of the city to be honest."

Jasper hadn't even thanked me for the information. "Right. Well, see you around!" She left me trying to puzzle out whether that girl would be a good one to befriend; I supposed not, since she hadn't even asked for my name or anything.

Her sister – or at least, I assumed the other girl was her sister – never approached me at all. I saw her a couple times, sitting on the front steps of her home, but I hadn't gone up and tried to talk to her – _at least, not until today,_ I reminded myself. _And today was rather a disaster, seeing how she literally ran away._

Now, hanging back wasn't normally my tactic. It wasn't like I was shy or anything. My friends, in fact, said I was the most extroverted of extroverts at our school – well, apart from maybe Amethyst. But there was something about the short girl sitting on the top step that made me pause. Maybe it was the way she never seemed to look up at anyone who walked by, never taking her eyes off whatever it was that she held in her hands. Or maybe it was how she always slunk out there when nobody else was around, looking as if she was trying not to be seen. Or maybe it was something else – but the point was, I had uncharacteristically avoided her for five days.

Not today, though. Today I had seen her out there as I practiced gymnastics out on the front lawn, and I had resolved to go see what was up with the girl who always sat there and never seemed to go anywhere else. She was rather strange looking too, which was another factor that made me curious. Nothing _super_ odd, but her hair was almost triangular, and she was really pale, and had really big circular glasses with – I kid you not – greenish lenses… so the point was, I wanted to find out who this girl was.

 _Okay, chill, Lapis_ , I told myself as I ran my fingers through my hair in preparation. _Make a good first impression. Just act cool. Casual._ And as I walked across my front yard and hopped the gate (too lazy to bother to open it), I reminded myself that I should take it easy because that girl probably did have a reason for not running around talking to people. Then again, I could surely win her over easily enough. My friends always _did_ say I was good with people.

As I walked down the sidewalk, trying to keep my walk casual without sauntering or looking too prideful and unapproachable, I got a closer look at the girl on the steps. She was tapping and swiping at an iPad that was on her lap, eyes darting around the screen – unusually _green_ eyes. Also, she had loads and loads of freckles. Despite the warm sun, she wore a dark green hoodie with the words "I told you so" printed on it and long black pants. I wondered how she wasn't melting from heat; I myself was wearing a blue crop top and shorts.

"Hey," I had called out as I walked carefully up the path towards the girl's house. She had looked up, eyes wide, and clicked her iPad's off button. I slowed down once I was in comfortable speaking distance. "I'm Lapis. Lapis Lazuli. I live over there–" jerking my thumb towards my house– "and I couldn't help but see you hanging around here… what's your name?"

The girl blinked at me, looking rather scared, although I couldn't understand why. "I'm Peridot," she said at last. Her voice was high-pitched and slightly odd sounding.

I had been totally casual a moment ago, but I could feel the awkwardness growing in the air. "Um… so I was wondering, what are you always doing out here? I mean, like, you never seem to go anywhere or anything." Peridot shifted uncomfortably, pulling her iPad up against her stomach and hugging it nervously.

"Um, I just– do stuff…" Suddenly her cheeks flushed. "S-sorry, I– I gotta go!" And with that, she got to her feet and rushed into her house, leaving me staring after her and wondering, _was it something I said?_

Sighing, I turned and walked back towards my house. Well _that_ didn't work. Maybe I was just destined to be alone all summer. At least there were only three weeks left…


	2. Chapter 2

**[Peridot]**

 _I shouldn't have run away,_ I berated myself. _I really shouldn't have. So why did I?_ I leaned my back against the door and stared down at my bare feet as I thought. I _had_ seen that blue-haired girl before. She was my next-door neighbor; sometimes I watched when she swum around in her pool. I had admired her from afar; admired how pretty and graceful she was. But I hadn't been expecting her to come up to me like that. I mean, didn't she think there might be a reason why I never went anywhere? I didn't want friends; I didn't _need_ friends. And I was really bad at talking to people, too – talking to someone I thought was pretty was even harder. I had a mild crush on Lapis, I concluded. And that wasn't a good thing.

 _But, really, running away… I mean, she was just saying hi. It didn't necessarily mean anything._ I sighed and stepped away from the door, carefully avoiding my stepsister's big orange boots. Jasper always left them directly in the doorway. Walking down the hall towards the living room, I was once again amazed at how big and clean everything looked. My mom worked hard, and when my dad died she had gotten all his money, so we were pretty rich – but all the same, I couldn't get used to the enormous house. At least I didn't really miss our old apartment – well, okay, so maybe I missed _some_ things about it, but here I had my own room, so I was happy enough.

"Hey Dot!" Jasper was sprawled casually on the couch, watching TV. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. We had different fathers, but to me, Jasper would always be just an annoying older sister. She called me Dot despite my protests, but by now, even though I preferred being called by my whole name, I had gotten used to it. She always had the advantage in our relationship, because although I was smart, she was three years older, and strong enough to force me to do just about anything. So I just always had to go along with her, and argue along the way. And really, we didn't have such a bad relationship; we teased each other a lot, but she and I left each other alone most of the time, and she helped me deal with bullies when I was in trouble.

"What is it, Jasper?"

"D'you know what time mom's getting home today?"

"She said she'd be home late, so probably around ten. We'll have pizza for dinner, so call me when you're hungry. I'll be upstairs in my room until then." Our mother never came home early; she was out working almost all day, every day. Jasper just nodded. I took that as a cue to go up to my room, taking the stairs two at a time. Once there, I set my iPad on my desk, and threw myself face-first on my bed.

 _Okay, so let's see. Apparently Lapis saw me sitting on the front stairs, and she came up to me because she thought I was lonely… or something along those lines. She couldn't have known that I'm just not a social person, so I guess she was just trying to be nice. So she's nice as well as pretty, now?_ I sighed. Yeah, just my luck to have a crush on a girl who a) probably wasn't gay, and therefore b) would never like me back, and if that wasn't enough, c) I literally ran away from her the first she approached. I buried my head in my pillow to muffle a groan. _Way to go Peridot. Great job. What even got into me? Why did I run like that? I'm just not cut out to be with other people, huh?_ Well, thinking like this, I'd never be. Moving to a new place… maybe I could have the chance to make a better impression on people. Definitely better than the impression I had doubtless made on Lapis, and that was a pity, because she was my _neighbor_ ; being friends with her would have been beneficial in more ways than one. _Well, maybe it's not too late. Maybe I can still make it up to her. I mean, she's right next door; I could go apologize. I guess… I guess I should._

Satisfied, I pulled out my laptop. Might as well play Minecraft or something; it was one of my favorite games, in peaceful single-player mode, because I loved the freedom to build whatever I wanted. But apparently that wasn't to be, because my thoughts simply would not stay on the game. They kept drifting off, inevitably landing on none other than Lapis Lazuli.

The day we had arrived here, I had been too wrapped up in my own business to even notice that we had a neighbor who was around my age. I was miserable; leaving my old school had meant leaving my favorite technology teacher, who was simply genius with computers and had taught me so much. Besides, it took me most of the afternoon to explore the house and choose a bedroom of my own (Jasper chose first, but I got second pick).

What with unpacking and personalizing my room, I hadn't left the house until the next day. That's when Jasper, in her big-sister tone, had told me that if I didn't spend at least half an hour in the sun every day, I would turn into a vampire, and she didn't like vampires so I had _better_ go sit in the sun, NOW. So that's what I did: Jasper dragged me with her out of the house, then locked the door and took my key. Then she left to "find some cool kids to hang out with", as she put it. That was the first time I saw my new neighbor, since Jasper spoke to her at her front gate.

I kid you not when I say that the first time I set eyes on the slender girl, I rubbed my eyes and shook my head to clear my vision. Surely nobody with blue hair could look pretty, I had thought – but apparently that wasn't true. Even when she was lightly tinted green because of my colored glasses lenses (a childish decision made when I got my first pair that I had gotten used to), she was still beautiful. And that was from a distance, besides…

It wasn't as if I didn't _know_ I was gay. I was sixteen; I had found out very early in my teens that I didn't like boys in _that_ way, and not long afterwards, that I liked girls. And my mom didn't care, really, as long as I didn't break the law; Jasper didn't mind either. My crushes remained unrequited, though, and after one particularly unpleasant occasion, I kept silent about them. So I had decided that I would just keep from embarrassing myself, and everything would be just fine. And the best way to do that was simply to leave my pretty neighbor alone.

So during the next few days, instead of fretting about good first impressions, I watched her from afar. Jasper kept forcing me outside, so I had no choice but to go out; I refused to try any physical activity, though, so I was left sitting on the front steps. I saw Lapis watching me once, so I refrained from turning my head to see her. It was better not to give her any hints. I just looked out of the corner of my eyes, and my 'keeping-my-distance' idea worked perfectly.

That is, it worked perfectly until Lapis decided to approach me. And unfortunately, up close, she was even more stunning than from a distance. Her skin was golden-bronze, her whole body slim and graceful, and her eyes a captivating ocean blue; I felt my breath catch in my throat – I barely managed to squeak out my name when she asked. Even now, on my own bed, I felt my cheeks grow warm. I just ran away. She probably thought I was totally weird.

 _Maybe I should go over and apologize now, instead of waiting for tomorrow?_ I considered it. _That might be a good idea. I could also ask Jasper for advice; she knows more about social life._ The thought made me snicker. She'd just laugh at me. _No, I'll just… I'll just go over and apologize for running away like a frightened deer. That's all. Then I can come back home and not feel guilty about making bad first impressions._

My mind made up, I closed my laptop again. I didn't even bother to save my progress; I'd barely done anything, anyway. Glancing in the mirror on my dresser, I wrinkled my nose; my hair was really wild today. _Oh well, she already saw me like this anyway._ All the same, I ran my hand through the spikes and tried to flatten my hair a bit. Then, gathering my resolve, I headed down the stairs again.

"What, Dot, you leaving again?" I didn't blame Jasper for being surprised.

"…Yes," I answered short-temperedly, and left before she could get me to explain. I had to go now, or else I'd lose my resolve. I slipped on my flip-flops and stepped outside, wincing as the sun's rays hit me. Maybe Jasper was right and I _was_ a lot like a vampire; I definitely didn't like the sun.

As I made my way across the sidewalk, wondering if this was really a good idea, my nerves tumbled together in my stomach and made my heart pound. I stopped at the front gate to Lapis's house and took a deep breath before walking on. _You can do this, Peridot,_ I told myself as I approached the front door. _Just say you're sorry you ran away, and that's all. And whatever you do, don't run away again._

I knocked carefully on the door. One, two, three. If she didn't answer, I'd probably lose my nerve.

But she did answer. And I was caught in her startled blue sight like a deer in a car's headlights and suddenly all my thoughts went flying out of my mind and I was left blinking at her wordlessly like some idiot.

"Uh… would you like to come in?" Lapis sounded slightly nervous too, for some reason. I shook my head slowly, not trusting my vocal chords. "Alright. Why are you here?" She had obviously picked herself up from the surprise and was already sounding cheerful. Her eyes were no longer looking directly into mine, so I could breathe a little better and my thoughts were clearer. Unfortunately that meant that I could be more embarrassed, too; my cheeks were all too warm already.

"I– I wanted to apologize for, uh, for running away." My voice faltered.

"It's fine." She looked a little confused, but quickly recovered. "Are you _sure_ you don't want to come in? Can we talk? I've been really bored lately, since all my friends live on the other side of the city…" She was making eye contact again, and although my impulses shrieked _run away run away run away_ , I nodded shakily and followed Lapis into her living room.


	3. Chapter 3

**[A/N:** I'm going to be gone until the 9th of January so no more updates until then; for now, enjoy this one. **]**

 **[Lapis]**

"So you've lived here your whole life?"

"Yeah, although I have gone on trips to other places." I had been very surprised when Peridot knocked on my door and apologized for running away; I definitely hadn't expected her to come over only half an hour after she ran away from me. It was nice to have someone to talk to though, so I had put on a smile and invited her in. She looked like she could be pretty good company if I got her to actually TALK. "Where did you live before you came here?"

"Big city," Peridot shrugged dismissively. I had already noticed she didn't talk any more than she needed to. She fell silent, apparently out of words to say. I was quiet too, mostly because I wanted to put her at ease and that meant going slowly. If I could keep from scaring her away again, then I could actually have a friend who didn't live an hour's bike ride away. I watched her face. She _did_ look strange, but from up close, she was actually kinda cute with her little pointy nose and constellations of freckles. And her eyes were an nice emerald shade of green – one might say, peridot colored. I wondered vaguely if that was why her name was Peridot.

"Which school are you gonna go to?" Once I spoke, she shook her head abruptly as if to clear it from a daze.

"Sorry– um, I'm going to go to Jewel High."

"Me too! What grade are you in?" I shifted in my armchair, pulling one leg up to my chest and letting the other dangle down to the ground. Peridot was sitting in an armchair on my right, head turned so she could– stare at me? Why was she staring at me? It was making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Eleventh," Peridot said shortly, barely blinking.

"Same." Well if she wasn't going to stop watching me like that, I'd just ask her to. After all, since when did I ever keep quiet? "Hey, I know I'm pretty, but–"

It was a joke; I didn't really think I was _that_ pretty. Sure, boys did flirt with me sometimes. They left me alone after I told them I was gay, at least – but if boys did go to the trouble of going for me, then I knew I couldn't be _ugly_. But Peridot probably wasn't staring at me since I was pretty, anyway; I had already noticed that she seemed a little uncomfortable, so maybe she was just unsure what to look at. Peridot turned her head away quickly, her whole face turning red. Wow, was she sensitive! Maybe I should keep the teasing at a minimum.

"S– sorry," she stammered before I could finish my sentence. I was half-thankful she had interrupted me. Who knew what I might have said otherwise? I tended to get carried away sometimes.

"It's fine," I assured her, then changed the subject. "So... is Jasper your sister?"

"Step-sister," she informed me, sounding relieved for the chance to talk about something not embarrassing. "We have different fathers."

"And how come you almost never leave the house?" I had a lot of questions.

Peridot frowned. "I don't have any reason to." Her voice was slightly irritable now, as if this was a subject that she was used to being bugged about. She was avoiding eye contact now, her gaze darting around the room to land on anything but me (she obviously didn't want to be accused of staring again).

"What, don't you want to find some friends to hang out with?" Maybe I should have changed the subject, but I really did want to find out how hard it would be to befriend this girl.

"No." Her voice was flat. "I don't need friends." Okay, it might be tricky. But I could do it; I knew I could. After all, I befriended Pearl, who I had always thought of as a prim teacher's pet – I could handle a shy, grumpy girl. If I was careful not to offend her, that is.

"I could be your friend," I offered. No point in jumping around the idea.

"Thanks for the offer, but," Peridot's voice was still unemotional, "no thanks."

I dropped the subject for now, figuring that there was no point in making her angry. That would just make this all the more difficult. "If you say so. What do you do all the time at home, then?"

Peridot shrugged. "I play Minecraft and other video games, watch TV, code... Stuff like that." She was seated upright in the armchair, looking slightly uncomfortable. I tried to put her more at ease by bringing up something harmless.

"Do you play Pokémon?"

"Yeah, I do. Do you?" Peridot's frown had partly gone away, so I concluded that obviously Pokémon was a good choice of conversation.

"Yeah. Do you wanna play? I could bring my DS over to your house, or you could bring yours over here, just so it would be more convenient."

Peridot hesitated. "Isn't that something friends would do?"

"Well, yes."

"So if I say yes, will you take that as a sign that I want to befriend you? Because really, I don't _need_ friends."

"Hey, you're reading too much into this," I objected. "I just asked if you wanna play pokémon with me. I didn't ask you if you wanted to be my friend or not." Gosh, this girl was stubborn. Somehow, though, that made me even more determined. She didn't 'need' friends? Yeah, right. Maybe she had just never experienced real friendship.

"Fine," the blonde girl agreed at last. "I'll bring my DS over to your house… Not now, though. I should probably get home before Jasper thinks I've been abducted by aliens or something. I don't usually leave the house of my own free will."

"Tomorrow, then? Would nine AM work?"

"Sure, I guess." Peridot started to get to her feet, so I did the same.

"Alright. It's a date. See you tomorrow, then." I slipped ahead of her and opened the front door so she could leave, noticing that she still looked rather uncomfortable. Oh, my casual air would get to her soon enough. She left, glancing back once and waving awkwardly. I waved back calmly, then watched her as she trudged back home, keeping her head down as if she was trying to hide in plain sight. Once she was gone, I grabbed an apple and snacked on it while I wondered about Peridot.

Why _had_ she been staring at me? It wasn't really important, but I wondered all the same. Well, it was fair enough; I had watched her long enough while she sat out there on the front steps of her home. _I_ had been staring because I was curious, and I never could avoid a mystery. Maybe she was just wondering about me or something. Well, she was coming over to my house tomorrow. That was progress, at least, and now I was confident that I would be able to befriend her eventually. Call it my summer project. Yeah, I liked that idea.

Now I just had to pass the time until my parents came home for dinner. _If_ they came home for dinner. They were late a lot. At least I could make myself an omelette if I got too hungry. Hmm, maybe I should go swim for a bit…


	4. Chapter 4

**[Peridot]**

I was lying in bed, fully dressed, messing around in Minecraft and doing what I always do on a totally normal summer morning – when the doorbell rang from downstairs, startling me so I almost fell off my bed. _Oh, right, Jasper must have invited someone over– WAIT A MINUTE!_ I stared disbelievingly at the clock. It was half past nine? Already? Oh no, I must have lost track of time! I had been supposed to go over to Lapis's house with my DS, but I forgot... she must have come over to ask where I was.

Jumping out of bed, I trotted out of my bedroom and down the stairs. Maybe if I hurried I could get to the door before Jasper – but no such luck. My tall stepsister was standing in the doorway and staring in disbelief at the blue-haired girl in the doorway.

"Peridot was supposed to come over to your house? No way."

"It's true," insisted Lapis. "Just ask her– look, she's there now," she added, evidently spotting me where I stood near the staircase. Jasper frowned and turned around, her amber-colored eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"It's... it's true, Jaz," I informed her nervously. "I mean, she invited me over, and... I agreed to come."

"Hmmph," Jasper grumbled. "Why did she invite you over in the first place? And why did she come _here_?"

"I invited her to play Pokémon with me, and I came here because she was supposed to come to _my_ house half an hour ago," Lapis replied before I could say anything. Embarrassed by my lateness (I was usually punctual), I refused to meet Lapis's eyes. She was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and black shorts, and in her hand she held a sky-blue DS.

"Right," Jasper finally grunted. "So Dot, you going ov–?"

"–Actually," Lapis cut in, "I thought we could play at your house, since I'm already here." She looked at me half-pleadingly and half-amused, and I was torn. Never before had I had a guest over to my house of my own accord – a few times, someone had come over to work on a school project, but we had done nothing but schoolwork. On the other hand, we had just moved to a new place, so it was a good chance to kinda start over – and besides, she _was_ already here.

"...alright," I agreed, nodding. "You can come in, Lapis,"

Jasper stared at me for a moment, then shrugged and slipped her flip-flops on. "Well," she said, stepping aside to let Lapis come in, "I'll be at the park. If there's an emergency or something, I have my phone." She liked to call herself the responsible one, although I think that's me; all the same, I'm sometimes grateful that she tries to be responsible, because I really probably _would_ need her help if something bad happened.

Once Jasper had shut the door behind her, Lapis glanced around the entrance hall of my house, and then her gaze settled on me. After a moment, she lost her bewildered look and shot me a winning smile. I felt shivers go up my spine. "So," Lapis asked, "where's your DS?"

"Upstairs," I replied slowly. After an awkward moment during which I felt like sinking into the ground, I waved my hand vaguely up the stairs. "In my room. Uh, you can come up... but it's kinda messy."

"That's fine," Lapis told me as she followed me up the stairs. "My room's a mess too. Whenever mom comes home she asks me to clean it up, but I never do. Woah, this is your room?" Her eyes sparkled and when I nodded, she grinned. "It's awesome!"

I cast my gaze around my room, trying to see it from a new point of view. The walls were painted light green and the ground was covered in a wall-to-wall grass-colored carpet. My bed (green blanket and pillow, as well as a few stuffed animals) was under the window on the far wall, and my laptop (neon green case) was resting on the pillow. My desk was situated right next to the door and covered with little robot parts (I was working on building a robot for a tech experiment I was doing), and my dresser was next to my bed. Strewn across the floor were a bunch of stuffed creatures and random clothes. I didn't see anything special about it, aside from the color.

"Uh... thanks," I replied as I tossed a few clothes into the laundry bin next to the door of my room. I wished I had cleaned up beforehand, but it was too late now. I knelt and searched through the bottom drawer of my dresser, which was filled with not clothes, but electronics. "Here's my DS. Should we go to the living room?"

"Could we play here? Your room is cool," Lapis replied, still standing in the doorway.

"O–okay, I guess." Lapis walked across the room and sat down on my bed. Wow, hadn't she ever heard of asking permission before touching people's stuff? I came over and sat next to her, if only to make sure that she wouldn't touch my laptop – at least that's how I justified myself. Leaning against the wall, I pulled out my DS.

"Ready to play? I'm totally gonna win," Lapis smirked confidently. I just smiled to myself. That's what _she_ thought.

Thirty-seven tries and twenty-three mini-tantrums later, Lapis finally accepted that I was going to beat her every time we battled.

"I still think you cheated," she grumbled.

"Lapis, you _can't_ cheat at Pokémon."

"Hmmph," the girl grumbled. I couldn't see her expression, since I had resolved to keep from looking at her – it was too distracting. "Well fine, then, but can we, um, do something else? I mean like," she quickly added, "I've had enough of playing Pokémon but I don't really want to go home."

Okay, so maybe Lapis's presence _was_ keeping her from playing her favorite games, and yes, I had to remember that this was _not_ not _not_ going to be a friendship or _anything_ of the sort – but all the same, I couldn't really tell Lapis "no, you have to go home now", because I felt like that would be cruel. Besides, Lapis was giving me these big puppy-dog pleading eyes...

"Well, alright, then," I replied, trying to keep from sounding... anything other than totally calm. "What do you wanna do instead?"

"Like, watch a movie or something? Or just talk, like, I dunno," Lapis shrugged lazily and I found herself admiring the girl's casual air. How was Lapis so relaxed all the time? "Maybe we could play some game, I guess."

"Right," I answered, pulling my eyes away from Lapis and staring across the room. "So uh. Do you actually want to watch a movie? Because I have some good ones." I gestured across her room towards a shelf, and Lapis hesitated before nodding and hopping off my bed to go take a look.

"Ooh, let's watch this one," Lapis said suddenly, pulling out some random movie. Not even paying attention, I nodded and agreed. At that, Lapis snickered, but it wasn't until the movie started playing that I realized why.

"Lapis! This is literally Dora the Explorer, like, what the heck is up with that?"

Lapis snorted with laughter, her shoulders shaking. "I was testing to see how much attention you were paying," she managed to say through her giggles. "Obviously, not at all..." I wasn't quite sure whether to smile or frown; I settled on a relatively neutral expression. "...sorry, I shouldn't have teased you," Lapis apologized at last. "It's just... the look on your face... ahaha..." Her laughter was contagious, and soon I found myself smiling despite myself.

"It... okay," I told her at last once she stopped laughing so hard. Lapis was still grinning ear-to-ear, but I ignored it as I put on a (real, this time) movie. "Just don't do it again."

"No promises," Lapis smirked. "Now hush, the movie's starting."

Sighing, I nodded and turned towards the screen. There was a thought at the back of my mind that was nagging me. _She's acting like my friend. I'm acting like her friend. It's... it's not all that bad. I mean, she's not doing anything wrong. Maybe I should try this friendship thing. Maybe._


	5. NO MORE

Sorry guys, I'm out of fanfiction material.

Maybe forever.

I apologize, but I'm not continuing any of my stories.

I don't know if I'll ever continue them, but for now...

Sorry.


End file.
